Wow, I haven't been by your site in ages. Its good to see a few people posting!

One of the things I always wonder is, do other photographers post to all the sites they can find, knowing that some will not make money for a long time? After looking at the listings page I realized that I only sell on less than half of those. Even then, I don't sell me whole port. Its so hard to upload and categories them all.

Do you upload to all the sites you find?

Lee wrote:

Wow, I haven't been by your site in ages. Its good to see a few people posting!

One of the things I always wonder is, do other photographers post to all the sites they can find, knowing that some will not make money for a long time? After looking at the listings page I realized that I only sell on less than half of those. Even then, I don't sell me whole port. Its so hard to upload and categories them all.

Do you upload to all the sites you find?

I dont submit to many just because of the time. I stick to Shutterstock and iStock mostly. I am looking into gettin on dreamstime more, but I used to get a lot of rejections from there and stopped uploading.

Sad to say, but I upload to basically everyone I find. I guess I am hoping the whole market for micro-stock explodes and I get a house in the bahamas.

I hope for the success of each site because then I will come out on top. Down with Corbis!


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Looking for the best stock image agencies? Checkout:
Top MicroStock Sites: Rankings by graphic designers (buyers)
Top MicroStock Agencies: Ranked by photographers (sellers)

most, don't waste to much time....

I upload to a lot of sites. I actively upload on a regular basis to the main ones but don't discount the newer ones that aren't getting you lots of sales just yet. At some point they may well take of and having a good start there with a decent sized portfolio could be a good advantage.

Even the very slow selling sites I upload around 300 images and will wait to see what happens with them.


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http://www.microstockphoto.com

I upload to quite a few sites (about 11 I think). I religiously upload to about 6 of them and the others when I have the time or inclination. I leave about 200 images at the slower sites, just in case the explosion occurs .. I don't want to miss it!

I upload to 18 sites and have eyes set on two more. My thoughts are microstock success is based on volume so I'll take it where I can!

Now the fundamental question is what do you people mean by slower sites. To me any site that earns less then 30 dollars a month on a portfolio of 100-150 photos is not worth wasting your time on. I upload to 3 most popular sites bringing me total revenue over 500 dollars monthly. Therefore it is good to spell out what you mean by saying "good", "decent" and "ok" site.

I submit to about 6 regularly. I have 5 others that have a portfolio of 100-150. If they start selling I'll finish uploading to them

This business is not a good one for hourly wage. But if you crazy anyway, why not make some money at it.

I went mad when I started and submitted everywhere but now I intend to stick with Istock and SS and remove from the others. Maybe it's just me but I've only had feelers at others.

I have a portfolio that is currently 500 images. There's such a difference between what I earn on the top two compared to the others. I focus my attention where the money comes from, though I take into account that if I spend less time on a site then of course it's going to bring me less revenue.

I agree with the other comments above. Microstock is a numbers game, and it has a poor hourly rate. For me the beautiful thing is that the income is passive. I haven't contributed anything for three months yet I'm still earning similar amounts.

All that being said, I'm currently investigating new sites. IS & SS are my 1 and 2 respectively, and DT & FL (FT) are my "second tier". The others, BSP & CSP, aren't worth my time. I'm watching their traffic stats on Alexa and listening in the forums. If they start moving their way up then I'll resume contributing.

The comments I don't agree with are those mentioning an 'explosion'. Take a look at the Alexa traffic stats for the top 6 websites. There hasn't been an explosion yet. All of these top sites have earned their turnover through concerted effort over time. I can't see what would make anyone think any microstock website would 'explode'. Even the industry as a whole isn't going to explode. It's not new, it's been around for at least a few years, depending on your source. If it was going to explode like other Web2.0 sites (digg, flickr, myspace) or other technologies (mp3, SMS, Skype) then it would surely have done so by now. Don't you think?

I would ask to other users what they think about uploading on newest sites...
It is true that sales will be lowest, but it can be different to have 100 photos in a 2 million photos agency or to have the same 100 photos in a 700.000 photos agency.
Why don't upload topselling picture even on smallest sites and then watch if they are worth the time to upload or not... probably most of this sites will be sold or will close but if they can manage to grow up being one of the first would be a vantage don't you think so?

Federico87 wrote:

I would ask to other users what they think about uploading on newest sites...
It is true that sales will be lowest, but it can be different to have 100 photos in a 2 million photos agency or to have the same 100 photos in a 700.000 photos agency.
Why don't upload topselling picture even on smallest sites and then watch if they are worth the time to upload or not... probably most of this sites will be sold or will close but if they can manage to grow up being one of the first would be a vantage don't you think so?

I only take on a small site if I actaully see something new. I get 2-5 new sites annouced here every month. When I ask what is new they always say "cool photos, great prices" I reply AND....

I like LuckyOliver, it is unique in its culture and style, I have not submitted to any other new sites in 6 months.


_________________
Looking for the best stock image agencies? Checkout:
Top MicroStock Sites: Rankings by graphic designers (buyers)
Top MicroStock Agencies: Ranked by photographers (sellers)

the poll really needs a middle slot -- is 10 sites "most" or a couple? i currently have 5 sites where i actually earn money, and another 5 that are new to the web and me.

i'll try a new site as long as the submission is easy - sites like Fotolia are becoming too much hassle for limited returns.

if i dont see movement after a few months, i'll leave my portfolio on, but dont do much else on the site.

steve